New York State Museum

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New York State Museum

The Cultural Education Center hosts the New York State Museum
Established	January 6, 1836
Location	Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, United States
Type	State museum of natural history, anthropology, and history
Website	www.nysm.nysed.gov

The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol. The museum houses art, artifacts (prehistoric and historic), and ecofacts that reflect New York’s cultural, natural, and geological development. Operated by the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education, it is the oldest and largest state museum in the US. Formerly located in the State Education Building, the museum now occupies the first four floors of the Cultural Education Center, a ten-story, 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m²) building that also houses the New York State Archives and New York State Library.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NYSM, State Archives, and State Library to close temporarily, with museum employees continuing to work behind the scenes, offering virtual programming and online exhibitions. The museum reopened to the public with reduced hours and days of operation and some exhibits still unopened on May 17, 2021.^[1]